Site Selection for Trash Bashin'

Hello everyone, during the scorching hot weeks of the July I have been in the process of site selection for the 2nd Annual River des Peres Trash Bash on Saturday September 25, 2010. I have had the opportunity to make site visits with Dona Anderson (Metropolitan Sewer District), Eric Karch, chair of the River des Peres Watershed Coalition, and Natalie Johnson our AmeriCorps volunteer at the Confluence. Though it is more than a month away, one can never be too early in preparation for the Trash Bash. The River des Peres Trash Bash is an event that is all about cleaning the creeks in the River des Peres watershed and then having a big celebration in honor of effort; this year it will coincide with the Clean the Lou, a day for neighborhood and environmental improvement in the St. Louis region. The River des Peres is approximately 15 miles long, and drains 115 square miles of the St. Louis region. The River des Peres has 3 major tributaries, Deer, Gravois, and Mackenzie Creek, being in the lower section of the River des Peres. This year we are trying to encompass large sections of the River des Peres, in both the upper and lower regions, so there was a lot of ground to cover. The upper stretches of the river from Overland and Olivette area look pretty nice, for being in an urban area. Relatively trash free and with multiple fish (Quite a pleasant surprise). And in University City we found a couple of sites on main branch of the River des Peres and on a tributary. Most sections of Deer Creek appear to be in good condition trash-wise, so there may be smaller sites where individual stream teams can take action. There are a lot of things to take in account for site selection such as the amount of trash at a site, the type of trash present (plastic bottles/metal cans, trash bags in trees, metal and PVC pipe). Another important consideration is accessibility of site, are the banks of the creek too step, is it safe for children, adequate parking near the site, there parking lots or space available for on street parking? How far down the creek will the volunteers have to travel? Is there enough trash to keep volunteers busy for a 2 hour time period? Other things of importance are the placement of dumpsters, and logistics of truck and trash pick-up from the sites. As well as taking into consideration, how many volunteers can safely work at a site, what tools will be needed, such as grabbers, ropes, and shovels.
As I mentioned previously the watershed covers a lot of area, Deer Creek and the upper River des Peres are the stretches I am most familiar with, but lately I have had a chance to check out an unfamiliar stretch of creeks Gravois and Mackenzie in South St. Louis. Mackenzie Creek like Deer Creek flows through majority suburban area, giving it steeper banks (channelization) and tougher access; but for the most part, Mackenzie Creek is relatively clean, never a bad thing. Grant’s trail a bike and pedestrian use trail that runs along most of Gravois Creek, giving it pretty good visibility. Also, I took notice that Gravois Creek for the most part has been left in a naturalized state, minus a levee near Affton sports complex. We found 2 or 3 sites along Gravois Creek; one site in particular was of interest to me. It is on a trail spur, that accessible by bike, it is a “wash-out” spot full of Japanese Hops, where a lot of floatable trash has been deposited when the creek was higher. Besides the amount of trash, I took notice that some moderate sized fish (at least 8inch size) make their home in Gravois creek, a sure sign of a healthy stream. As y’all can see through the pictures there is definitely trash buildup on the River des Peres, but besides the trashed spots there are quite beautiful stretches of the river and I had quite an enjoyable time, checking out sites in the watershed. If anyone in the St. Louis region has a good choice for a clean-up site, just let me know. If you would like to attend the Trash Bash, you can register at www.riverdesperes.org. I am definitely looking forward to a wonderful Trash Bash event in September, hopefully the river will be lower and the temperature a bit cooler.